Rail fastening means



Sepf. 18,1945. R. T. SCHOLES Patented Sept. 18, 1945 FFICE 3 Claims. 01. 23s349) This invention relates to resilient fastening olevices for railway rails, and has particular reference to improvements in resilient fastenin devices of the type described and. claimed in my prior Patents Nos. 2,218,156 of ()ctoberl5, 1940 and 2,257077 of September 23, 1941.

As-in the case of the rail fastening devices described and claimed in my said prior patents, theinstant rail fastening device comprises a clip nthe form f a spring plate which bears at or adjacent to its inner end upon the base flange 'of the rail and at or adjacent to its outer end upon the tie, -tie plate or other rail support; which is designed to be fastened by fastening means exerting force downwardly upon theil medal portion thereof; and Which has a normal formsuch that when it initially is applied in its unflexd and unstressed condition its medial portion has aprdetermined clearance from 01 spacing above the rail support whereby, upon application of the fastenng means and consequent downwardfiexing of the ri1edia1 portion of said plate until it is positively stopped by contact with the rail support, a predetermined amount of downwardly applied spring pressure is caused tobe appliea'to the rail fiange to hold the rail yieldably seated upon its support. A very material fand important advantage thereby attained is so dsigned and fastened as to serve effectively to ho1d the rail upon its support whle acting 'yieldably to resist the normal amount of wave motionof which the rail naturally partakes in service, and to serve positively to resist any tendency of the rail to move upwardly from its supportin excess of the upward movement thereof incident to its natural wave motion, whereby the natural wave motion of the rail desirably is permitted to pass through the rail with'out undesirable restraint and yet any possibility of overturning of the rail effectively is avoided; and (2)5t0 provide novel means toinsure mainte- -nance'of a predeterminea operative relationship b etween the spring plate, therail and the rail support. With the foregoing and other objects in view,

which will become more fullyapparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the -same consists na rail fastenin deviceembodying the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully descrbed, illustrated inthe accompanying drawing and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in related views:

Fgure 1 is a cross sectional view through a rail and its support showing the spring plate of the improved rail fastening device in itsinitially applied position prior to being fastened.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showng the spring plate in its finally applied, spring energized position.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the assembly shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating an alternative form of means f0r maintaining a predterminecl operative relationship between the spring plate, the rail and the rail support.

Referring to the drawing in detail, A designates a portion of a cross tie, B designates a porton of a tie plate seated upon said crosstie, C designates a part of the baseportion of a rail seated upon said tie plate, D designates the spring plate or clip of the instant rail fastening device, and E designates a fastener for said spring plate.

'Ihe plate D preferably is formeel rorn spring steel and preferably is rectangular in shape, bein of any suitable width and thickness and of a length t extend, in overlying relationship to the base flange c of the rail and the tie plate B, from a point adjacent to the Web 0 of the rail to a point spaced any suitable distance outwardly from the usual upstandng rib or shoulder 17 of the tie plate against which the outer edge of the base flange 0 of the rail abuts.

By a. rolling or pressing operation or in any other suitable manner the plate or clip D normallyis arched a suitable amount as viewed in side elevation so that when it initially is applied in overlyin relationship to the base flange 0 of the rail and the tie plate B with its inner end resting on said base lange c near the web c' of me rail and its outer end resting on the tie plate at a point spaced a suitable distance outwardly from the rib or shoulder b, its medial portion is spaced a suitable distance above said rib or shoulder b, as shown in Fig. 1. Th'is arching of the plate D is efiected, not by a regular tively, substantially straight, andby stepping its medial portion, which overlies the rib or shoulder b, upwardly and nwardly as indicated at 11 The fastener E preferably is in the form of a. staple, the legs e, e of which extend downwardly into the cross tie A through holes in the tie plate B directly adjacent to the outer edge of the rail base flange c and. the bight or cross bar connecting portion e' of which extends transversely across the medial portion of the plate D in overlying relationship to the upwarclly and nwardly stepped part 01 thereof, and also disposed above and in the vertical plane of the rib or shoulder b of the tie plate. Accordingly, by driving the staple E into the tie A, the medial portion of the plate D is flexed downwardly untilits"oiset part d contaots with the 1ib or shoulder 12 of the tie plate and thereby is brought to a positive stop and thereby a predetermined amount of spring energy, depending upon the amountof normal arching of sad plate, is stored in said plaite so that its inner endxportion d: exerts yield- -ably a definite andpredeterminediorce down wardly upon the baseflange c ofijtherail tohol d the rail :y=ieldably seatedupon the tieplate. In this connection it will be observed1by reference to"Fig.2 thatwhen theplate D is at its limit of downward flexure with: itsoflset :part 11 in: en-

gagement with the rib or "shoulderb, onlythe "extreme inner end ofthe portion d of said;plate .is in contact-with thebaseflange cwofthe rail and .that, from the extreme irmerend of said portion dto the; outer edge of-the rail, saidpor- ;.tionid is spaced upwardly fromrsaid base."flange c. ;This :spacing is at leastequalto,but not materially greater, than the amountof upward a-nd downward movement of"-which the:rail partakes as a result of its naturel and:normal un- :dulating orwave motion in service. According- :lyrthernatural 'and normal amount of wave m- ;tion :of whichctherail partakes in service, is free to pass through the ;rail resistedonly by the yieldable holding forceexerted .-downwardly upon the base iange eof the rail by the inner end portion cl of the plateD. Duebowever to-the fastener E being applied to said plateD directly adjaeent O1lih outer edge of the-base fiange e of therail; the part of the innerendportion d 0- the plate D which overlies the outeredgegpor- ;tionof the base flange e of the rail constitutes a solid: abutment limiting -upward.movement of the rail relative tothe tie;plate, and since the spacing of said inner end portion d.=above the outer edgeportionof the base.flange;c of the rail is not materially greater than the maximum .upwarcl movement of which therailpartakesas .a result of its natural and normal wave motion- "in service, any possibility of :overturning of the rail thereby efiectively =and;positively;is avoidecl. Moreover, despite the positive stopagainstexcessive upward or overturning -movement of the rail .aiorded by the medialportionof theplate :Dthe inner end portion d of said plate byvirtue of -ts length and engagement -w-ith the base ;1ange c of the rail adjacent .to the rail Web 0 is freely.flexible in response to thewavamotion of the rail soas not.1mdulytoresist such motion.

Any suitable means maybe provided to insure maintenance of the operativepositionof theplate D relative to.the rail and the tie.plate. Eorexample, the tie plate may be .provided with asuitable socket formationto accommodate theouter end of the portiomd of saidplate and: to .thus, in oooperation -withthe fastener E hold said .plate "against outwar.d and sidewise movement. nthisconnection and:as illustrated in Eigs. 1

to 3 of the drawing, the outer end of the portion d' of the plate D may be turned downwardly, as indicated at d and may be engaged in a recess or depression b pressed, rolled or formed in any other sutable manner in the tie plate; or, as i1- lustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, the tie plate B may be provided with an upstanding rib b defining, a socket of U-shape to accommodate the outer end of the portion d of the p1ate D Which portion d' may be either -downwarclly turned 'or fiat as desired. Obviouslythe rib b may be either an integral part of the tie plate or a part separate from the tie plate welded or otherwise secured thereto.

Without further description it is thought that the=features -and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art,

and it .will of course be understood that changes in theorm, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing fromthespirt of theinvention and-scope. of the appendedclaims.

1. Rail-holding means comprising, the rail, a tie platenpon which the rail rests;=a:rib;projecting upwardly from the tie plateandconstituting anabutment for one edge of thebase flange of lange of the rail at a point spacedinwardlyfrom the outer edge of the said base flange, the medial -part =.of said clip including an outwardly and downwardly extending stepportion, and fastening means havinga portion ther-eof eneasngthe upper face of ;said step portion and holding the lower part of saidstep portion in rigid engagement with therib .whereby said rib serves as a stopto limit compression of the clip under pres sure of the astening means, andthe a.stening andrib provide a;fulcrum fortheportion of the clip between its inner end and the step portion,

.said clip, between its inner end and the point Where it engagesthe rib of-thetie plate, having clearance from the topace of the rail.iange to permit normal -wave motion of the rail While the latter is engaged by the inner end portion of the clip and any tendenoyofthe rail to move ing upwardly from thetie plate and constitutng an abutment forone edgeof the'base flange of the rail, said ribhavng a vertical fastening receiving opening, an initially arcbed spring clip seated at its outer end upon the tie plate at a point spaced ontwardly 'from said rib and seated at its inner end upon the upper face.of the base flange of the rail at a point spaced inwardly .from the outer edge of said baseflange, said clip having a medially outwardly and. downwardly extending step portion, andfastening meansfor flexing the plate into rail-gripping position, said .means .extending through the. opening insaid rib intoijthe tie and in vertical a'1inement with said rib, said.means alsohaving a;portion engaging the upper fase, of thestep portion of.the

- clip above said rib.and holding theilower ace of the step portion of said clip rigidly against 33. Rail holding means comprising, the. rail,a

ti plate, -upon whichthe rail rests,:aribprojecting upwardly from the tie plate and constitutng against the upper portion of the rb which serves as a stop to limit compression of the clip under pressure of the fastening means, said fastening means and rb cooperatng to provide a fulcrum for the portion of the clip between ts inner end portion and the rib, whereby said portion of the clip between its nner end and the rib wi1l yieldingly engage the upper side of the base flange of the rail to permit normal wave motion of the 1 rail.

RICHARD T. SCHOLES. 

